I get more inquiries about this plane than any other I've ever built. I decided that I'd do this quick write-up with some pics so that I have somewhere to refer all you guys who want to know more about it.

This was my first built-up balsa plane, built somewhere around April 2011. I had a rough idea of what I wanted to build, but I never drew up any plans or anything. Just started cutting balsa and making it up as I went. It was originally intended to be a sort of park racer or fast aerobat in the 75mph range and was designed around the venerable Suppo 2212/6 motor and a 5x5 prop. It has full 4-channel control and was built with dual aileron servos for setup simplicity and control options (flaperons, differential etc.).

The open tail structure seems to be a point of continued fascination with this plane. That was actually the second fuselage I built for it; the first was more similar to a Slipso in construction and couldn't accommodate the motor it ended up with without tearing off the firewall on landing. The first-version closed fuselage was destroyed not long after I built it, so I replaced it with the open-tail one which had significantly more interior space and allowed me to mount the larger Suppo 2217/6 internally which I found to be more appropriate for the plane. V1.1 flew great (incredibly well, actually) but had a few spots that sat rough with me. They were mostly just basic design/construction things, but they made it less-than-perfect.

Despite its flaws, the plane was truly an excellent performer. The final power system is a work of mad genius: A Suppo 2217/6 1500Kv outrunner swings an APC 7x9 glow prop on 3S using a Suppo 30A ESC. All signs say "BAD"; the motor draws 33A static but the oversquared prop unloads so much in flight that all is well. Top speed is surprising; my best estimates put it in the 85-90mph range and my math seems to support that pretty well. Vertical performance was unlimited, and the TLAR airfoil I used holds speed really well through hard pitch changes. At about 21oz RTF, the plane could also slow down and float nicely.

And then an aileron servo failed and I strained it through a tree and destroyed it. I COULD have repaired it, but replacing is more fun

Version #2 addressed all the gripes I had with the original. It's lighter, stronger, slicker, and better-made. Same proven power system, better airframe. I've only flown it once and it had some rudder trim issues, but it checked out great otherwise. It just needs the rudder pushrod to be adjusted slightly to get the rudder centered. I'm also working on tracking down some iron crosses for the wings- this one's gonna be done out in the classic red German WWI Stik scheme to fit the look of the airframe.

Oh, and I also built a 3-ounce micro version of the original, too. I think it's like 60% scale or thereabouts.

Yeah, the Projectile/Demon/Stinger are similar to this but with molded fuselages. The wing planforms are also different, but without looking at the site I don't know which is which Those are like a nice step between this plane and something like a Slipso or Sokol... But they cost like 5x as much as mine did

They're designed more for speed training, whereas this one was clearly not set up with max aerodynamic efficiency in mind I like some aerobatics now and then, and your average 3-channel pylon plane don't cut it in that respect.

Nice! But if this is a pylon racer, wouldn't you want to put some covering over the tail boom section to reduce drag? you could put some clear covering and it would still look the same. But still, it looks cool with it exposed!

Clear covering would be sort of... dumb. It's like when you're playing a videogame and you hit the edge of the map and can't walk any farther even though there's obviously more space in front of you. If I'm gonna go for the open tail look, I'm gonna do it right and have it be an actual wide-open tail. This one is really more of a sport aerobat than an outright racer anyway. It's a little on the slow side but it can still cover some sky and it'll fly a wicked wide-open pattern in all three dimensions. I like to eat up a lot of airspace while flying, and this type of plane lets me do that in fine form.